BARRINGTON — Sixteen seniors from Barrington’s 2012 Division I championship soccer team graduated last spring, but the Eagles have not missed a beat in the first month of the current campaign. They won...

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By
MIKE SZOSTAK
Posted Sep. 21, 2013 @ 7:41 pm

BARRINGTON — Sixteen seniors from Barrington’s 2012 Division I championship soccer team graduated last spring, but the Eagles have not missed a beat in the first month of the current campaign. They won their first seven games and are now 4-0 in league play following Friday’s 3-2 win over Cumberland.

As he did during his first five years as head coach, Don Denham replaced the graduates with reserves from last year’s team, promoted players from the junior varsity and welcomed talented freshmen.

That’s rebuilding in a program.

“I use that word a lot,” he said Tuesday after a 2-0 victory over Chariho.

Denham has developed a successful program at Barrington High School. Three of his teams won state championships, one lost in the semifinals and the other in the quarterfinals. He has coached all-league and All-State players and has kept most of the homegrown talent at home. His six-year record is 82-10-13.

“I think it starts with the players first. I know that may be a cliché, but the players in this town put a lot of effort into the sports that they play, and when they make a commitment to playing soccer and coming to the high school and trying out for high school, what we try to do, right from the time that they get here, is instill what we’re looking for from day one,” he said.

Denham has not played the same system twice, he said, because the players change from year to year. However, the general scheme remains unchanged.

“My JV coach [Jose DaCosta] knows what we’re looking for in certain players. When he’s coaching his group, he’s molding what we’re looking for, and we instill it consistently over and over again. It’s not easy at a public school because you have the highs and lows, how many kids are coming and how many are not.”

Consistency is the key.

“We’re always looking for the same thing from the same position. Our central defender knows what we want from his first day of JV to his last day of high school. It’s consistent all the way through. That’s the biggest thing. Winning is not the objective. The objective is to be consistent,” he said. “We have to make sure that no matter who shows up here, we’re consistent on what we want, what we’re looking for, what type of player we want. We tell that to the parents at day one of tryouts, and we don’t change. We stick to our guns, and that’s it. We have to keep it consistent. If we don’t, then it’s not a program. It’s just a year-to-year let’s hope for the best, and I don’t want to do that.”

Five of the seven seniors on the team this year have varsity experience. Forward Steven Duncan returned after a year with the New England Revolution Academy and is one of the best players in the state. Forward Denali Sexton is quick, aggressive and deft with his feet. Tim Sullivan is the only back with varsity starting experience. Central midfielders Jozef Jennings and Joe Harrington are captains.

Duncan ranks among the state scoring leaders with seven goals and one assist.

Underclassmen who have moved into key roles include goalie Connor Mellen, a junior who has taken over for three-time All-State Andrew Jones; center backs Teddy Ni and Matt Egglin, juniors who are improving with each game; junior Isaac Lapides, “a rock” of a defender in his first varsity season; sophomore Makio Yamamoto, a speedy forward; and freshman Izaiah Jennings, Jozef’s brother and an outside forward Denham described as “phenomenal.” Izaiah has two goals and five assists.

“We have good creativity up top, and our back, every single game that they’ve worked together they’ve jelled together, and I think it only helps us. There are a lot more teams with a lot more experience in the back, which we’ll have to deal with when we get to playing them, but for now we’re doing what we have to do,” Denham said.

Tie halts Mount streak

Mount St. Charles, winner of six Division II league games in 2012, won its first four this year before settling for a 2-2 tie Thursday at Providence Country Day. Colin Berg is the leading scorer with five goals and four assists through five victories overall.

La Salle went to 5-0 with a 2-1 win over Tolman on Friday in Pawtucket.

“The only thing we’re doing right is the prayer before the game,” head coach Mario Pereira quipped. “We’re not scoring goals. We’re struggling. We’re very fortunate. We’re winning games, but all of them could have gone the other way.”

Hope (3-1-1) lost its first game of the year Friday against Central at Conley Stadium. The Blue Wave is off to its best start in several years. Komla Dogbey leads the offense with eight goals and two assists. He scored five goals in the 8-6 victory over Central Falls on Wednesday.

Richard Grenier Sr. is still a coach for all seasons. Having had to relinquish his soccer responsibilities at West Warwick High, he has taken over at Cranston East. His son Richard, a 2013 West Warwick graduate and former Wizards goalkeeper, is assisting him with the Bolts. Grenier coaches basketball and baseball at West Warwick.

The Division III season should be entertaining with North Smithfield, Prout and West Warwick all unbeaten in league play through mid-September.